Even at the highest ranks of European 
society, personal cleanliness as we define it 
was somewhat lacking. For instance, the royal 
palace at Versailles had no ...ah... 
restrooms as such. There must have been 
chamberpots in the bedrooms, but the hordes 
of nobles, servants, etc. at the palace 
couldn't and didn't spend all their time in 
and near their sleeping places.

I'm a member of that age cohort who hit the 
teen years in the early '70s. I remember how 
odd our parents thought we were for washing 
our hair _every_ day! "Older ladies," for 
instance, usually had their hair washed and 
set once a week at the local "beauty parlor."

Elizabeth Whitaker

Melinda Skinner wrote:
>>From my readings and research about colonial Virginia and 16th and 17th-century England,
> most people were pretty filthy and smelly.  I would think that any household slaves/servants
> would be about as clean as their employers/masters.
> 
> --
> Melinda C. P. Skinner
> Richmond, VA

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